A Brand Refresher

A brand refresher is kind of like a spring-cleaning: getting the dust out and letting the fresh air in.

Here’s what we do at my house:

• Remove everything from a room
• Wipe down the walls and windows
• Open the windows
• Clean the floors
• Beat the rugs
• Clean everything before it comes back in the room
• Get rid of what doesn’t fit anymore

Same with a brand refresher — review how your brand looks and acts and make sure it’s connecting with people.

Here’s how we do a brand refresher at dRC:

Gather our brand assets, everything we can find:

• Signs
• Ads
• Articles
• Brochures
• Shirts
• Swag
• Products
• Packages
• Social posts
• Digital assets

(Please don’t remove signs from your building! Just take some pics of what everything looks like.)

Put all these assets out for the team to see.

It may have been some time since you pulled all of your branding components into the light for a good once-over and quick checkup. It’s healthy to see your branding, marketing and sales components all in one place.

Look at as many things as possible and wipe them all down.

Does everything work together? Are they consistent? How many different logos can you find? How many typefaces? Check your brand standards and see what violates your brand guidelines. Take note of what really worked for your brand, you’ll want to do more of that.

Then make brand refresher decisions.

Decide what assets can be tossed out or put away for future use, what can be recycled and re-used, what assets need to be updated or re-created, and what assets can go back to work as they are.

It’s a healthy, cathartic exercise, and one that doesn’t take as long as you think. Your audience will love it. So will you, because it’s literally a breath of fresh air for your brand.